Ant Infestation Palm Beach: Ants Breeding in the Indoor Pot Plants

Ants through the house, and where they were really coming from

This was a new customer, booked for a carpet clean and general pest control. The carpets were no dramas. The ants were the story.

There was a noticeable ant problem, with ants tracking through the house. We treated externally and found nests outside, which is where you would expect them.

But the main trail was not coming in from outside. It was coming from the indoor pots. There were a large number of them, and the ants were breeding in the potting soil.

They had even got into the home office desk and its drawers. Once a colony is living indoors, the whole house is close to it.

Why indoor pot plants can hold an ant colony

Potting soil is moist, sheltered and out of the weather, which is what ants look for in a nest site. Indoors, it also sits close to food and water.

That changes the treatment. Outside, a perimeter treatment meets ants on their way in. A colony in an indoor pot is already past it. Treating the outside alone would have left the main source untouched, and the trail would have kept coming.

We explained this to the customer on the day, so she knew what she was looking at and why the plan was what it was.

Ant bait stations inside

We placed ant bait stations strategically inside, close to where the ants were travelling. Worker ants take the bait back to the nest and share it, which reaches the ants in the soil that a spray never would.

Spraying the trail you can see kills those ants and leaves the colony alone. That is why a sprayed trail often comes back within days. There is more on that in why ants suddenly appear after rain.

If you have a lot of indoor plants and a trail you cannot explain, watch where it goes. A line of ants running to or from a pot is worth mentioning when you book.

The couch we did not clean

She also asked us to clean a couch. On inspection, we decided that fabric should not have moisture on it.

Our experience is that type of fibre risks damage when it is wet cleaned. So we erred on the side of caution and did not clean it.

The store she bought it from has its own cleaners. We suggested she ask them for the cost, and for an assurance there would be no watermarks or fibre damage.

We are not after the job for the sake of the money. Saying no to the wrong job is part of doing the right ones properly.

General pest control Palm Beach: scope and warranty

A standard general pest treatment covers cockroaches, ants and spiders. Other pests, such as rodents or wasps, are add ons booked on top. Australian cockroaches carry 6 months and ants carry 3 months. Webbing spiders carry a warranty, other spiders do not, because they keep crawling back in from outside. The treatment comes with a report.

The carpet clean itself was straightforward. Most homes suit a professional clean every 12 months, and homes with pets, young children or allergies often do better on 6 to 9 months.

The minimum call-out fee is $145 plus GST, the same across the Gold Coast to Tweed Heads area, and you get an estimate rather than a quote. More detail is on the pest control and carpet cleaning pages, and on our carpet cleaning and pest control Palm Beach page.

Frequently asked questions